The Barbecue Before the Storm

“According to the Abyssal Fiendgod, this island is called Ten Thousand Mountain Island,” Ji Ning said with a smile, the seven Dragon Gods and Empyrean God Xiuke standing by his side.

“Ten Thousand Mountain Island? Not bad, not bad!” Violent Dragon God’s bell-like eyes swept the surroundings excitedly. “These peaks jutting up toward the sky like spears—interesting, interesting. Ten Thousand Mountain Island. A fine name. A fine name, indeed.”

Empyrean God Xiuke had also recovered his original demeanor, elegant and carefree. He gazed at his surroundings, his heart filled with joy. “I never imagined I’d see the third island so soon. Originally, I thought I’d be content just to lay eyes on the second. Haha… who knows, perhaps Junior Brother Northmont will manage to break straight through.”

“Maybe he will.”

“Brother Northmont, we believe in you.”

One after another, they spoke with laughter.

Ji Ning, however, did not dare to boast. The nine of them continued on their way. Although Ten Thousand Mountain Island was vast, their ability to shrink the earth into inches allowed them to cover ground quickly. After walking for a while and traveling several million li, they began to hear faint sounds of laughter and cheers in the distance.

Ji Ning and the other eight exchanged glances, each showing curiosity.

“Sounds like quite a crowd.”

“Let’s go take a look.”

They immediately headed toward the source of the sound. As they drew closer, the noise became clearer.

“Excellent, excellent! Brother Feiyou sang wonderfully—I’ll sing one too!”

“Beneath the Moonlit Abyss, true freedom!”

“Drinking fine wine, true delight!”

“No sorrows, no sorrows.”

“A nap with my head down, sleep till dawn.”

The raucous voice, like rolling thunder, carried a simple rhythm. Ji Ning blinked a few times. This is what they call singing? It was… really just average.

Soon, Ji Ning and the other eight arrived at the source of the sound. In the distance, a bonfire blazed on the wilderness, and dozens of skinned wild beasts were roasting over the flames. The fire had rendered large amounts of fat from the meat, which dripped and sizzled as it hit the flames—sssss—and the fragrance had already spread far and wide.

Dozens of beasts were roasting. All around, men and women sat or stood, singing freely. Most wore animal hides, looking carefree and at ease. A few wore robes, but they were equally casual. They all held wine goblets or hugged wine jars, drinking heavily, eating meat heartily, laughing and shouting without restraint.

“Haha, you guys are really living it up over here! You even have meat to eat!” Fierce Dragon God roared with laughter as he charged forward.

“I knew it was Brother Feiyou here. You fellows always eat well when you follow Brother Feiyou! I’ve been starving for it!” Violent Dragon God charged forward as well.

The Seven Dragon Gods rushed over one after another, and Ji Ning and Empyrean God Xiuke followed along.

“So many Tianshen?” Ji Ning was secretly astonished.

With a single glance, he could see nearly a hundred Tianshen.

“Seven Dragon Gods, you’ve finally come!”

“You were holed up on Volcano Island, refusing to come over, insisting on crossing on your own. So, you made it through after all?”

“Haha, Withered Dragon, brother, come, have some meat!”

The Tianshen who had been sitting around enjoying themselves welcomed them warmly. After all, the Seven Dragon Gods had been on Volcano Island for an extremely long time—nearly a full Chaos Cycle. All of the Tianshen present knew the seven. As for Empyrean God Xiuke, more than half of the Tianshen recognized him. Ji Ning, however, was a stranger to every single one of them.

“Let me introduce you,” Withered Dragon God announced loudly. “This is my good brother, Northmont! To be honest, the reason we seven made it from Volcano Island to Ten Thousand Mountain Island is all thanks to Brother Northmont. He crossed from the Moonlit Abyss all the way here in one go, fighting his way through without pause!”

“Oh?”

“Brother Northmont, here, I toast you.”

“To be able to kill your way to Ten Thousand Mountain Island in one breath—impressive!” The nearly one hundred Tianshen present immediately looked at Ji Ning with different eyes, and they all came forward to offer him a drink.

Ji Ning drank and chatted with them. As they talked, he gradually understood the situation. Not counting himself and his eight companions, there were ninety-eight Tianshen here. However, the vast majority of these ninety-eight had followed other Tianshen—they had given up all hope of crossing the Moonlit Abyss on their own and had chosen to follow someone else.

Of these ninety-eight Tianshen, only nine had arrived here relying on their own strength.

They were: ‘Tianhe’, ‘Wuqi’, ‘Yunhen’, ‘Feiyou’, ‘Dongxu’, ‘Jibu’, ‘Tongqu’, ‘Zhenbu’, and ‘Yiqiu’. These nine Tianshen had all reached the fourth level of a comparable power—Tai-chi Force, Wuji Force, Lightning Force, Sharp Force, and so on—and had sufficient confidence to overcome the Abyssal Fiendgod. As a result, many other Tianshen had chosen to follow them.

“This is Brother Feiyou,” Withered Dragon God said, leading Ji Ning to meet Feiyou Tianshen.

“Brother Northmont is truly remarkable,” Feiyou Tianshen said with a smile. “Those who can make it here in one go are exceedingly rare. Even for me, I spent tens of thousands of years on Volcano Island before I had a breakthrough and managed to reach this place.”

“Brother Northmont,” Withered Dragon God continued with a laugh, “Brother Feiyou here cannot live without meat and wine. So he specially brought along a Small-World treasure with a large number of wild beasts raised inside. Wine can be brewed using natural energy, but meat—meat requires proper farming! Wherever Brother Feiyou goes, the Tianshen there live in comfort. Look at them—eating meat, drinking wine, they don’t even know how good they’ve got it. The seven of us on Volcano Island had long forgotten what meat even tasted like.”

Ji Ning laughed as well.

This Feiyou Tianshen was truly an interesting character. When Tianshen came to adventure in the Moonlit Abyss, they all started out with soaring ambition. Generally, even if they brought some wine and meat, it was only a small amount. After all, over time, the wine and meat would spoil. Meat, in particular, could not last for millions of years without going bad. So, after a long time in the Moonlit Abyss, the only way to eat meat was to do as Feiyou Tianshen did—bring a Small-World treasure with living beasts inside to provide a constant supply.

“Don’t mock me, Brother Northmont,” Feiyou Tianshen said with a grin. “I’m not an ambitious man. I just love my wine and meat. I can endure my cultivation stagnating, but I cannot endure going without food and drink. What’s the point of living forever without eating or drinking?”

“I’ve heard of you even back in the Three Realms, Brother Feiyou. I’ve heard you have a nickname—‘Until Death Do Us Part,’” Ji Ning remarked with a smile.

“Until Death Do Us Part?” Feiyou Tianshen was momentarily startled, then burst into laughter.

“That’s right, ‘Until Death Do Us Part,’” Withered Dragon God nodded. “This fellow once said that he won’t stop drinking and eating until the day he dies. Hence the name.”

…

They drank and ate for a long time. The Tianshen gradually split into two groups. One was the mass of ordinary Tianshen; the other was Ji Ning, Feiyou Tianshen, Yunhen Tianshen, and the other seven who had crossed on their own.

Ji Ning studied the nine before him. Among them, seven belonged to the Nuwa camp, while the other two should be considered Seamless Gate.

Back in the primordial era, only the Nuwa camp had entered. Later, during the Three Realms period, the Lord of All Demons had waited until Mother Nuwa had left before leading the remnants of the Seamless Gate back. Naturally, far fewer from the Seamless Gate had entered the Moonlit Abyss compared to the Nuwa camp.

“They seem to have an excellent relationship,” Ji Ning mused. “If they knew of the great calamity outside, they probably wouldn’t be so carefree, treating each other like brothers without any reservations.”

Indeed, the Tianshen of both the Seamless Gate and the Nuwa camp on Ten Thousand Mountain Island had excellent relations.

None of them knew of the impending calamity. Ji Ning, the Seven Dragon Gods, and Empyrean God Xiuke had not yet planned to reveal the news of the disaster—after all, they were still inside the Moonlit Abyss. There was no need to bring it up now.

“Brother Northmont.” The winged Yiqiu Tianshen spoke up. “The nine of us sought you out because we have something to tell you.”

“Oh?” Ji Ning was curious and listened attentively.

“The islands ahead are dangerous and require constant vigilance,” Yiqiu Tianshen said, looking at Ji Ning. “But Ten Thousand Mountain Island is much safer. There are no thousand-year attacks here. However, the Moonlit Abyss cannot simply let us live here in complete comfort. After all, the Moonlit Abyss is not a place to raise idlers.”

Ji Ning nodded.

“On Ten Thousand Mountain Island, there is normally no danger. You could go tens of millions or even a hundred million years without facing any real threat. But… whenever a new Tianshen arrives on Ten Thousand Mountain Island,” Yiqiu Tianshen looked at Ji Ning, “the Moonlit Abyss will send down a terrible calamity.”

“A calamity?” Ji Ning was puzzled.

Wuqi Tianshen narrowed his eyes and said hoarsely, “That’s right, a calamity! As soon as a new Tianshen arrives on Ten Thousand Mountain Island, the calamity draws near. Before long, the Moonlit Abyss will send a demonic army to attack. At that time, only the ten of us can go to fight. The other Tianshen, since they were brought here by us, are not qualified to participate. If they join the battle, they will anger the Moonlit Abyss… and die without question.”

Ji Ning nodded, curious. “A demonic army?”

“You’ve encountered yakshas, snow demons, and the like before—these count as demons,” Wuqi Tianshen continued. “What we are about to face will be an army composed of such demons. When the army attacks, only the ten of us can fight. It will be a life-or-death struggle. In past history, during such calamities, it was normal for Tianshen to die. At worst, four Tianshen died in a single calamity. Only once did no Tianshen die at all.”

“So…”

“Under normal circumstances, one or two of us ten will probably die,” Feiyou Tianshen said, looking at Ji Ning. “We’re telling you this now so you can prepare yourself.”

“Understood.” Ji Ning nodded.

“These attacks from the Moonlit Abyss army are actually meant to pressure us,” Yunhen Tianshen sighed. “They force us not to slack off during our time on Ten Thousand Mountain Island, and to constantly train ourselves by attempting the Floating Plank Bridge. Only by training ceaselessly, growing stronger and stronger, can we increase our chances of survival when a new Tianshen arrives and the calamity descends.”

Yunhen Tianshen looked at Ji Ning. “Brother Northmont, since ten of us must fight together, coordination is critical. Before we coordinate, we need to understand your abilities—know what you’re good at, so we can fight better as a team.”

“Understood.” Ji Ning nodded.

“The strongest among us is Brother Feiyou,” Yunhen Tianshen said. “We’ll have Brother Feiyou spar with you. Don’t hold back. We need to see your strengths and weaknesses so we can coordinate more effectively.”

“Haha… I’m hardly the strongest. Yunhen is the best at movement techniques, Zhenbu is the most ferocious, and I’m just the most stable in head-on offense,” Feiyou Tianshen said with a laugh. “Are you ready, Brother Northmont? Once you’re ready, I’ll make my move.”